Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria (15/10/2024)

Evans netted his first international goal for Northern Ireland in a 3-2 World Cup qualifying victory over Poland in Belfast in March 2009. He ended his international career with a total of six goals. The others were scored against Czech Republic (h) in September 2017, Belarus (h) in March 2019, the Czechs again in October 2019, Cyprus (h) in June 2022, with his final goal coming in a 4-2 Euro qualifying defeat to Slovenia in September 2023.

Evans played a total of 9307 minutes in his 107 appearances. The majority of those minutes were in Euro qualifying games, 3322, followed by 2700 minutes in World Cup qualifiers. He played 2160 in friendly matches and 1125 minutes in UEFA Nations League games. His total of minutes at senior level is the fourth highest in Northern Ireland history behind Steven Davis (11,749), Pat Jennings (10,478) and Aaron Hughes (9519).

Fifty-five of Jonny’s 107 appearances for Northern Ireland were at the National Football Stadium/Windsor Park. Forty-seven were on opponents’ grounds and five were at neutral venues.

Jonny was also capped at U21 level for Northern Ireland, the last of his three appearances coming in a 3-2 defeat to Germany which was just five days before he made his debut for the senior team against Spain in Belfast. He also clocked up eight appearances for the Under-17 team, scoring once in a 2-1 ECQ defeat to the Republic of Ireland in Solihull.

Eighty of Evans’ 107 caps for Northern Ireland were won in competitive matches. He appeared in 37 Euro qualifying and finals games and 30 World Cup qualifiers, while he earned another 13 caps in the Nations League. The remaining

27 appearances were in international friendlies.

Earlier this month he played his 400th game in English football and capped a memorable day by winning the man-of-the match award in Manchester United’s scoreless Premier League draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Jonny captained his country in a total of 13 internationals. He first donned the armband in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park in March 2015 and his final game wearing it came in the 5-1 defeat to Spain in June.

IRISHFA.COM

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